Moose Fact Sheet

Because many Moose Page visitors have expressed the wish
to see some hard moose facts in addition
to all the hilarious frivolity, here are some tidbits culled from the fertile
minds of those Mickey Moose Club members currently lounging about the
sitting room of the club:

The moose is the largest member of the deer family. Its scientific name is
Alces alces.

Mooses are for the most part sort of a brownish color, though they can range
from light beige to almost black.

The plural of moose is "moose." We at the Mickey Moose Club choose to
ignore this fact.

Mooses are very large. It's best not to mess with them, especially during
rutting season.

Each year in Alaska, there are more moose-related deaths than bear-related deaths.

Mooses are herbivores, and it's a darn good thing they are. Otherwise there'd
be even more moose-related deaths.

The moose is the official State Animal of Maine.

The moose is found all over the Northern Hemisphere, in Europe, Asia, and North
America.

The history of the name of this animal is somewhat confusing. Before the
"discovery" of the New World, the Asian/European variety was called by names
related to the English word elk. (Many of these names are still around
— see the International Moose Dictionary, below.) The North American elk,
or wapiti, is an entirely different animal found only on this continent.
So... In Europe and Asia, an elk is a moose. In North
America, an elk is a wapiti, and a moose is a moose.

The word "moose" itself is derived from the Natik word "moos," itself supposedly
descended from the Proto-Algonquian *mooswa, meaning "the animal that strips
bark off of trees."

This is not to be confused with "dog," the animal that barks.

Only the bull moose has antlers, and they fall off every winter. The cow has
better things to do than grow silly appendages.

The last words of Henry David Thoreau are reported to be, "Moose. Indian."

Do you live near mooses? Are you a moose researcher or mooseophile?
If you have more information about this noblest of animals, the moose,
we'd love to hear from you. Please e-mail us at
moose@mickeymoose.org.